Study: Police stations poorly equipped

 The poor state of police stations in the country contributes to the high level of crime, a study says.

The report by Usalama Forum found that police are too poorly housed, equipped and paid to be able to manage most crimes reported at various police stations.

The organisation sampled 21 police stations out of the country’s 456. There are 156 police divisions, 241 police posts and 397 police patrol bases.

The report, dubbed “Communities and their Police Stations”, found that filing systems in police stations are deplorable.

“In most of the police stations visited, case files including murder investigation were found lying on open shelves and desks. The officers further lacked adequate writing materials including paper and pens, photocopy machines, paper shredders, safes, office desks and chairs,” reads part of the report.

INSUFFICIENT FUEL

It established that basic office furniture, interview and meeting rooms and other facilities were lacking in most stations and they also did not have enough vehicles.

Even when vehicles are available, they are not maintained and so often break down. Insufficient fuel is allocated for running of the vehicles and most of the stations also had staff shortage. Officers work long hours (between 12 and 16 hours) daily.

“In some stations, officers had barely four hours for their daily break,” says the report.

Usalama’s Charles Otieno said that the impact of this is depression, a human resource management concern. He said that many police officers ignore the feelings of the people they serve, and insist on procedural aspects of their work due to the pressure. The report recommends that the Government audits all all police stations to determine whether they are fit.